What to expect: Calif., NAMI provide more on Prop 12

Original article by Chris Scott

​The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) this week outlined additional specifics on the regulatory framework of Prop 12 as the U.S. Supreme Court-affirmed animal welfare protection statute moves closer to implementation.

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The agency co-hosted a webinar with the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) that provided information on how the program affecting egg, pork and veal sales of food products from outside California will be implemented after Jan. 1, when full enforcement is expected to be in place. Prop 12 features provisions for confinement of animals within California (egg-laying hens, breeding pigs and veal calves) and the sale of products (shell eggs, liquid eggs, pork meat and veal meat) produced or processed from elsewhere in the U.S. and shipped to be sold in the Golden State.

The 90-minute online session covered several topics of interest, including:

• Distributors of covered products are required to register with CDFA, a process that began Jan. 1 and continues currently.
• Third-party certification of product distributors for each distributor location also must be delivered to CDFA after Jan. 1, 2024.
• Prop 12 certification will not be required on labels of meat products that have been USDA inspected, although shipment documents must bear a Prop 12 certification when the products enter California for sale within the state.
• NO product labeling is required for Prop 12, just on shipping documents. Products for export, those for shipment through California to another state or goods that are non-Prop 12 compliant must say so through shipping documents.
• Meat from a federally inspected processor delivered directly to retailer requires records from the retailer, not the processor. The processor may decide to register on its own and take over the record keeping, but it is not required.
• Sales of ready-to-eat pork or veal meat — including pre-cooked ham, deli slices and cooked bacon — do not fall under Prop 12 provisions.

CDFA officials said they plan to focus on educational outreach and accrediting third-party codifiers between now and Jan. 1 and are working closely with other stakeholders on timing of Prop 12 implementation. The agency is not planning on pulling any pork already on shelves after July 1, which was a concern expressed by webinar attendees. Much more on Prop 12 operational preparation is available at the CDFA website.
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Originally published on June 13, 2023 on Meatingplace.com